Demonic Duo
by MMcDizzle
Summary: Mirajane takes Natsu on the fateful S-Class mission with Lisanna and Elfman. In the midst of a life and death battle, END is awakened. How will Natsu handle the murder of Lisanna at his own hands? What does this unstable new form mean for our resident dragon slayer? How is Mira somehow getting tied up in all of this? Come see the journey of Fairy Tail's new strongest partnership!
1. Chapter 1

**Natsu's First S-Class Mission, with Mirajane, Lisanna, and Elfman**

Things had not been going well, for Natsu and the Strauss siblings. The beast that they were sent to destroy was most certainly S-class material, perhaps even harder. While Lisanna was busy evacuating the citizens from the town, Natsu, Elfman, and Mira were taking quite the beating.

"FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!" Natsu yelled, as he punched the beast in the stomach. The beast merely shrugged off the attack, swatting the dragon slayer away with the back of its hand. Natsu crashed into a tree, getting bruised all the way up his back.

"SOUL EXTINCTOR!" Mirajane followed up, hitting the beast in the chest, causing it to enrage. The beast pounded it's chest as it barreled straight for Mira. Mira tried to dodge, but was clipped by its claws at the last second.

'_This isn't working!_' A battered Elfman thought, as he got up from a particularly nasty blow. He looked over at Mirajane, who was still in Satan Soul form, but was visibly exhausted. Natsu was still fighting, but he too had obviously sustained heavy damage from the last few hits.

'_I think It's time we tried something a little different.'_ Elfman approached the beast from the back, sprinting up to it as fast as he could. He touched the back of the beast before yelling: "TAKEOVER, BEAST SOUL!"

Slowly Elfman began to merge with the beast, seemingly calming it down from its rampage.

"Good thinking Elfman!" Natsu approached Elfman, reaching out his hand to pat him on the back. Elfman roared, striking out at Natsu, sending him flying into a large pile of rocks. Natsu coughed up blood at the impact.

Mirajane yelled across the plain. "Natsu, it's no good-the beast is still in control!"

Natsu slowly rose to his feet, in visible pain. "I guess this just starts round 2."

And thus began the second round against the beast, this time with just a battered Natsu and Mirajane to fight against the beast/Elfman.

**About an hour later**

"FIRE DRAGON'S CLAW!" Natsu yelled, as he slashed across beast-elfman's left eye. The beast roared in pain, as it jabbed Natsu in the torso, sending him flying. The beast brought its paw to its face, holding it in pain.

Shakily rising to his feet, Natsu called out "Mira, Now's your chance!"

Mira hesitated-the beast may be rampaging, but it was still her little brother inside of there. Could she bring herself to hurt Elfman? She had to. Or else-SMACK!

In Mira's moment of indecision, Elfman smote her out of the sky, her body impacted the ground hard, taking her out of Satan Soul form.

Elfman roared, almost as if in triumph. He gazed down upon Mira's crumpled-looking human form, rage in his eyes. He strode closer, getting ready to deliver the killing blow.

Suddenly, a flaming fist punched the side of his head. "Don't forget I'm still here!" Natsu yelled, right before he was slugged in the chest by Elfman.

Elfman turned back toward Mira, approaching again, as Mira tried crawling away.

"Oi! This is between you and me!" Natsu yelled again, before blowing fire in the side of Elfman's face.

Elfman raged, smiting Natsu back to the ground, once again. Natsu struggled to rise to his feet, falling flat on his face. No! He couldn't let Elfman get to Mira! Natsu crawled his way between elfman and Mira, horrifying the retreating Mira.

"Natsu, run!" Mira yelled.

Natsu rose to his knees, and stared defiantly at Elfman, as the beast raised a fist high into the air.

"NATSU!" Mira screamed, in desperation for her friend.

_BOOM!_ A cloud of dust kicked up, as Elfman's fist smashed his target.

'Natsu!' Mira cried, her hand covering her mouth in horror. Her friend was dead.

After a slight pause, a sound that Mira never expected sounded across the field.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" A demonic voice roared with laughter, sending chills down Mira's back. Mira glanced at the beast of Elfman, to see that it's mouth remained closed, a look of fury apparent in its eyes.

'Did Elfman just…?' Mira's thoughts trailed off as the dust slowly cleared, leaving her speechless. Where a bloody pulp should have resided, Natsu now knelt. Or was it Natsu? A pair of dark horns twisted their way from the crown of his head, tapering to points. Dark red scales covered his face, arms, and legs as a single draconic-looking wing sprouted from his back. But most astonishing of all, was not the appearance of this being, but what it was doing. Above it's head, a lone hand was raised, single-handedly blocking the punch of her possessed brother.

Natsu slowly rose to his feet, and Mira shivered. Waves of demonic energy flowed off of him, the ground rippling as they passed. She was no stranger to demons-she'd fought dozens of them in her quest to obtain more powerful take-overs. But this felt different. It wasn't just magic seeping off of Natsu-it was something far more powerful, and sinister. It was as if the air itself evoked negative emotions: fear, hatred, despair.

In the blink of an eye, Elfman was blasted into the air, roaring in pain at the black flames that licked his torso. In a thundering crash, Elfman smashed into a tree, shattering the wood in an explosion of splinters. A still beast-like Elfman rose from the remnants of the tree, roaring a challenge at Demonic-Natsu.

Demon-Natsu's smirk grew-a corruption of Natsu's natural grin. Where the dragon slayer always portrayed enthusiasm, brashness, and naiveté, this monster's smirk held malice, superiority-sadism.

Elfman barrelled towards Natsu on all-fours, swinging a massive fist into his much-smaller enemy.

Once again Natsu held out his hand, catching Elfman's fist mid-flight with a concussive impact. As Elfman attempted to pull his arm back, in preparation for another swing, Natsu tightened his grip on the beast's hand, preventing any ability to move. With a single downward twist, Elfman's arm snapped, a loud sound echoing across the field. The Elfman-beast screeched in pain, clutching the now-broken arm with his other claws.

In a blur of speed, Beast-Elfman was launched skyward, mercilessly swung by his now broken arm. Elfman roared as he squirmed in the air, trying to gain control over his unintended flight. Natsu regarded the struggle of his opponent, his left eyebrow arching as his lip curled in amusement. Fruitless attempts.

Elfman hit the ground head first, immediately taking him out of beast form. Natsu's expression quickly shifted from amusement to boredom.

"Natsu?" Mira asked, still unsure of what exactly she was seeing.

Natsu disregarded her question. After a brief contemplative moment regarding Elfman's inert body, Demon Natsu casually walked towards it, apparently with some new purpose.

Natsu cracked his knuckles, as he closed in on Elfman.

'NO!' Mirajane thought, finally realizing Demon-Natsu's intentions.

Summoning all of her strength, Mira burst back into Satan Soul form, dashing over to grab Elfman, and clear him out of the way. She quickly lost strength, and shifted out of her form, having only gained 50 feet of distance from Demonic Natsu.

Natsu did not look amused. Black flames built around his body as he continued towards Mira and Elfman, now with a look of murderous rage adorning his face. 40 feet. As he was closing the distance, the magical pressure from Natsu's new form began to weigh on Mira. 30 feet. The scorching heat of his flames could now be felt. 20 feet. The heat was now becoming unbearable. Mira rose unsteadily to her feet, getting in between Natsu and Elfman.

Suddenly, a bird flew down, landing just and handful of feet from Natsu's possessed form, in front of Mira. Quickly, the bird shifted from its animal form, into that of the silvery haired Lisanna.

"Hey Natsu! It's okay now! Elfman is back to normal. We can go home now!" Lisanna smiled at Natsu.

"Lisanna, stop!" Mira stared at her sister, horrified.

"Natsu, I know that you don't want to hurt me or Elfman, so I know that everything will be okay." Lisanna smiled, holding her arms out to Natsu.

Natsu dropped to his knees, holding his head, screaming in pain as if a battle raged within.

Lisanna slowly closed the distance between herself and Natsu wrapping her arms around Natsu, trying to comfort her friend.

"It's okay. I'm here." Lisanna smiled tenderly at her friend.

Lisanna was violently blasted away, landing several dozen meters away from Natsu.

Mira's eyes widened in horror.

Natsu began screaming again, pain evident as his form slowly shifted back to normal, his body losing consciousness in the process.

In spite of her injuries, Mira ran to her sister's side, panic evident on her face.

"Lisanna!" She shrieked, all composure having flown out the window. Lisanna lay motionless on the ground. "Lisanna wake up!" she cried, shaking her sister. Nothing changed. "Lisanna, please wake up!" Tears began dripping down the face of Mira, as she continued to shake her sister. "LISANNA!" Mira wailed.

Slowly Lisanna lifted off the ground, a light glow surrounding her in the process. "Lisanna?" Mira questioned, not understanding what she was seeing. The glow began to intensify, as particles of Lisanna started disappearing. "LISANNA!" Mira cried out, worried at the turn of events. She hurried and wrapped her arms around her sister, trying to hold her there. "Don't leave me!" Mira cried. But despite her efforts, Lisanna continued to disappear, slowly fading away.

"Lisanna…." Mirajane whimpered, as the last remnants of her sister dissipated into nothingness.


	2. Chapter 2

*****AUTHORS NOTES: My story, unfortunately, does not mesh well with the existence of Happy as a character. As such, though it may be heresy, my story is going to pretend that Happy does not exist (Sorry to any Happy lovers out there. :P ) Also, I'm going to be pitting Natsu against some pretty major enemies (like gildarts level or stronger)-if anyone has some recommendations, feel free to leave them in a review/PM me!******

**Back at the guild**

"How did that freakin' Pyro land an S-class mission with Mirajane?" Gray complained loudly.

Cana quirked her brows suggestively. "Aww, is somebody jealous of Mira's attention?"

"Are you out of your damn mind!? What kind of masochist do you take me for?! No sane guy would want anything to do with her OR Erza." Gray finished, crossing his arms against his, suspiciously bare, chest. Cana's expression slowly shifted from her smug look, to a look of growing discomfort.

Gray eyed her in confusion. "Okay, what's your problem now?"

Using her eyes, Cana tried to motion to the angry individual now looming over Gray's shoulder.

Gray watched as her eyes seemed to flick from meeting his own, to something on his shoulder. Gray looked over at his shoulder, now realising that his shirt was gone.

"Aw hell, why didn't you tell me sooner!? Where the crap could my clothes have gone…?" Gray replied, exasperated, but still oblivious to the looming presence behind him. "Well, at least Erza's not here, getting pissy about it."

Cana caught Gray's eye, and slowly shook her head, sweat now slowly trailing down her forehead.

Gray froze, a look of terrified realization crossing his face as he slowly turned around.

"I heard you mentioning something interesting about that white-haired whore, and thought I'd listen in." Erza said, eyes narrowing. "You weren't possibly talking about me as well, were you?"

"N-never!" Gray stuttered, sweat dripping down his forehead. "I was just talking about how n-nobody sane would want to d-date Mira."

Erza's look of anger suddenly dissipated, replaced by a look of superiority. "I always knew that you had a good head on your shoulders." Her smile slowly changed to a thoughtful frown. "What brought the topic up, anyways?"

Gray inwardly sighed, happy to be in the clear. "Apparently Mira took Flame-tard on her S-class mission."

"Hmm. You don't think that…" Erza scratched her chin as she trailed off, the gears suddenly turning in her head.

"NO WAY!" Gray shouted, clearly agitated. "The ONLY reason why she took him, was because her sister practically begged her." 'There's NO way that idiot found a girlfriend before me!' Gray thought to himself. 'The only reason why that flame-head ended up on that mission, was because Mira's sister is his best friend.'

Suddenly, the door busted open, in came a tattered looking Mira carrying an unconscious Natsu, with busted-up looking Elfman in tow, shocking the guild into silence

Mira collapsed to the ground, and immediately the guild broke out into chaos

Voices and questions came from every direction-"What happened?" "Oh my gosh!" "Elfman's arm is completely destroyed!" "What's wrong with Natsu?" "Are you okay, Mira?"

But one question silenced the guild: "Where's Lisanna?"

At that Mira couldn't hold it together anymore. She broke down and sobbed. "Sh-She's gone. She was killed.." Mira shivered at this point. "...By a demon."

The guild continued to be deadly silent, as Makarov finally stepped in. "Okay you brats! I want someone to take Natsu and Elfman to the infirmary. Mira, I want you to step into my office.

Erza slung Natsu over her shoulder, bringing him and Elfman in the direction of the infirmary.

Makarov went into his office, a stricken-looking Mirajane accompanying him.

**Inside Makarov's Office**

"Mira, this is going to be hard, but I need you to explain what happened." Makarov said

"Natsu, Elfman, Lisanna, and I arrived at the city that was under attack. Lisanna was sent to evacuate the citizens, while Elfman, Natsu and I went to confront the beast." Mirajane began.

"So this beast was not a beast, but a demon?" Makarov questioned

"No, it was a beast. A powerful beast. But just a beast." Mira replied.

Makarov's brow furrowed. "I'm a little confused, but perhaps I better let you finish the story."

Mira nodded timidly

"The beast was definitely an S-class level monster-Natsu, Elfman and I struggled to do much of anything to it. Eventually, Elfman tried to use his beast takeover magic against it. It...It took control of Elfman."

"If the beast was hard to fight before, it was a nightmare to fight now. Natsu eventually caught a break, scoring a lucky hit on Elfman's eye. I went in for the knockout blow, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I couldn't...I couldn't bring myself to hurt Elfman. Elfman recovered, and knocked me out of my Satan Soul. I…I couldn't do anything." Mira stammered "I was powerless. Natsu….He stepped in between me and Elfman. Over and over again, he was thrashed by Elfman, only to get back up, and place himself between me and my brother. Elfman went for the final killing blow, when…" Mira shivered "...when everything changed."

"Natsu should have been dead. There's no way that he should have survived it. But he did. And something was different about him. It was almost like he had performed takeover magic-takeover satan soul. But this demon was something else. This demon made Sitri look like a child"

Makarov suddenly turned pale. Sitri was Mira's most powerful takeover; powerful enough to make Makarov think twice before he messed with the she-demon.

"I would say that the demon fought Elfman, but that wouldn't be true. It toyed with him. It caught all of Elfman's attacks with a single hand, then snapped his arm like a twig. When Elfman couldn't handle anymore, he reverted back to being a human."

"Natsu didn't have the power to control the demon. When it defeated Elfman, it started to approach him for a killing strike. I summoned enough power to fly to Elfman, and take him just over a dozen yards away. But it wasn't enough to escape. That's when Lisanna...Lisanna.." Mira burst into tears, unable to finish her tale.

"That's when Lisanna sacrificed her own safety, for that of her siblings." Makarov finished for her. Mira continued to cry, unable to cope with the loss of her youngest sister.

"But that leaves one question: How did Natsu get back to normal?" Makarov questioned her gently.

"When...when…Lisanna approached Natsu, it seemed like Natsu was struggling to gain control. He...he blasted Lisanna away, struggled to gain control again, then fell unconscious.

"Thanks Mirajane, that is enough for now." Makarov sighed. "For Natsu's sake, I would suggest that you keep his transformation confidential. We don't know what happened, and until we do, any speculation might do more harm than good."

"Yes master, I...I understand." Mira replied softly

Makarov sighed again. "I also think that you should spend the night here at the guild house-being alone tonight wouldn't do you any good."

Mirajane nodded before she got up from her seat, and limped out of Makarov's office.

"This is most troubling." Makarov thought to himself "A demon of such caliber could be a danger to the guild, if not all of Magnolia." Makarov paused for a moment. "And what kind of magic did Natsu use? Did he perform a takeover, or was it something else entirely? Makarov took a sip of the drink that was in front of him. "How is Natsu going to handle the fact that he inadvertently killed his best friend?"

**Sometime Later**

Mira stood in a field, facing Natsu. Beside him, a tired looking Elfman laid on the ground, completely exhausted.

"Let's go back to the guild" Mira stated, seeing Elfman's condition.

Natsu looked at her, then at Elfman, and smiled. But something was off about this smile. It was empty-empty of the trademark recklessness and playfulness that was known to Natsu. Slowly the smile twisted as Natsu shifted, once again, into his demon form. A predatory smirk now played on his lips.

"Oh, but I'm all fired up!" Natsu grinned, as he stomped on Elfman's left arm, causing a large snapping noise. Elfman screamed in pain, as Mira's face quickly turned livid. Shifting into Satan Soul: Sitri, she flew at Natsu, fist aimed for his head. Natsu laughed, grabbed her fist, and redirected her flight into the solid ground behind him. Shortly after, Natsu stomped on Elfman's leg, cracking his tibia. Elfman screamed louder, as Mira pushed herself up off the ground, readying herself for another attack. Natsu grinned at Mira, as he proceeded to stomp on Elfman's other arm, snapping it as well.

"You're gonna pay, you bastard!" Mira screamed as she flew once again at Natsu. This time, aiming to tackle him to the ground. Natsu brought both of his hands in front of him, and caught her, pulling her into a tight embrace.

"Oh, how I love a good sparring match" He whispered into her ear, as he held her close, chuckling. "But not as much as I enjoy this!" He exclaimed, as he stomped on Elfman's face, crushing the jawbone into tiny fragments.

"ELFMAN!" Mira screamed, as she struggled to escape Natsu's demonic embrace.

Mira jolted up, sweat pouring down her face, as her heart raced in fear. She glanced around; she was in the infirmary. "Oh gods, It was just a nightmare." she whispered to herself. She clasped her hands over her chest, as she tried to calm herself down. She glanced at the next bed over and found Elfman resting, his broken arm already in a cast. "It was just a nightmare." she repeated to herself, as Natsu's unconscious form caught her attention, a few beds down. Mira laid her head back down on her pillow, trying her best to fall back asleep. For hours, she laid in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to forget her dreams, and trying to forget her reality.


	3. Chapter 3

***AUTHOR'S NOTES: The publishing schedule for this series is going to be every Thursday, probably around 4-5pm mountain standard time. Shout out to Middle08Ditch, Nina-Chan202, erasenpai964, and Ushindeshi for the reviews! And thanks to all of those who have favorited/followed-it really motivates me to write more! Thanks all, and ENJOY!****

**The Next Morning**

Makarov arrived at the guild early, out of concern for Natsu and the two Strauss siblings. Quietly, he made his way into the infirmary, taking care not to disturb any of its occupants. To his shock, the room was short of one of its occupants: Natsu was gone. No note was left, only an unmade bed indicating that at one point his bed was occupied.

Makarov furrowed his brows. This did not bode well. Makarov made quietly made his way out of the infirmary, into the main guild hall. He sat on the upper balcony, and pulled out his pipe. He smoked a few drafts, as he thought about what needed to happen. He suspected that Natsu must have recalled what happened. Apparently, though he lost control to the demon, he must still have been witness to what transpired-witness to the senseless murder of his best friend, by his own hand. Makarov puffed on his pipe again, thinking about what could be done. This was a most delicate matter, and it would need to be handled by just the right person. Makarov frowned. The problem was, the best person for this might also be one of the most prejudiced against Natsu.

Makarov remained on the upper balcony smoking his pipe, waiting for the remaining members in the infirmary to arise.

Elfman was the first to get up, coming out of the infirmary with a bowed head. Makarov called out to him, consoling him for his loss.

Mira didn't arise until long after noon. Apparently she had some issues sleeping. Makarov watched as she exited the infirmary, her eyes puffy as if she had been recently crying. "Mira." Makarov called out, calling her attention to the upper balcony. "Might I have a word with you in my office?" Mira nodded, following him into the guild office.

Makarov sat across from Mira, having forsaken his pipe, in exchange for a cup of whiskey.

"Why did you call me in, master?" Mira inquired.

"I wanted to talk to you about what happened yesterday." Makarov paused for a moment, taking a sip of whiskey, "Specifically, I wanted to talk about Natsu."

Mira went silent at this point.

"I'll cut straight to the point; I want to know if you harbor any anger towards Natsu, about what happened."

Mira remained silent for a moment before she quietly spoke. "...No...I'm so...angry; frustrated; and I don't know where to direct those feelings." Mira sighed at this point. "But I can't bring myself to direct them at Natsu. How could I fault him any more than I can fault Elfman losing control of his takeover?

"I think that there's wisdom in that outlook." Makarov took another sip of his whiskey. "That being said, Natsu is desperately in need of your help."

Mira tilted her head, questioningly. "What do you mean, Master?"

"Natsu left this morning, without saying anything to anyone." Makarov took another sip. "I assume that he's grappling with some pretty serious self-loathing. He killed his best friend, and nearly killed her older brother. He likely feels like some form of monster.

"...or a demon…" Mirajane whispered thoughtfully.

"Aye. And knowing your past, he wouldn't be the first person to feel that way, would he?"

Mira's eyes met Makarov's, understanding to be found in her cerulean orbs.

"I'll find him." She said with finality.

**Outside of the Guild**

Mira began her search for Natsu at the usual places: Natsu's house, the lake, and a handful of other places that he and Lisanna would frequent. Unfortunately, Natsu wasn't to be found at any of these.

The only places left were the guild, which she had just come from, the city of magnolia, where Natsu rarely spent any time, or the surrounding forest-the most likely candidate. Since she couldn't track worth beans, she began blindly wandering into the forest. Mira sighed. Did she really have any hope of finding him? She decided that following a straight course would probably be the best.

Suddenly, a dark feeling crept over Mirajane. Darkness. Despair. Hatred. A multitude of negative emotions. The same feelings that emanated from Natsu, the night of his transformation. Immediately she turned sharply to her right. The feelings had a distinct source-a source that she could follow. Mirajane changed into her Sitri form as a precaution, as she began to approach the source.

The closer she got, the more the woods took on a destructive appearance. Trees were stripped of their bark. She crept closer. The ground was charred. She crept closer. Trees were now shattered in their place. In the center of a large clearing was a figure, doubled over, weeping.

It was Natsu, in his regular form. Mirajane powered down from her Sitri form, approaching Natsu, albeit cautiously.

"Natsu?" Mira called out

Natsu curled up tighter, and wept harder, hearing Mira's voice. The waves of despair intensified.

"Natsu." Mira called again, approaching closer.

"GO AWAY!" Natsu cried out, in between sobs.

Mirajane ignored Natsu's demands, as she slowly crept up to him. Makarov was right. He needed her help. Suddenly, Mirajane did something very uncharacteristic of her; she circled her arms around Natsu, awkwardly stroking his back in what she hoped to be a comforting gesture.

"Natsu, it wasn't your fault" Mira spoke softly

Natsu's sobs intensified, as he tried his best to reply: "I...I...I killed her." he sobbed. "I KILLED HER!" Natsu pounded his fist into the ground in sorrow and anger, as another wave of magical force pulsed from Natsu.

"But you saved me." Mira spoke softly

Natsu slowly lifted his head, meeting Mira's eyes. In his eyes was despair. But in her eyes was compassion, understanding, and empathy.

"Why...Why don't you hate me?" Natsu asked in earnest, lips trembling.

"Because it's not your fault, Natsu. You lost control in your efforts to protect me, and ended up" Her shoulders sagged. "...well ended up in the same situation as Elfman. If anything It's my fault that Lisanna died. I shouldn't have brought any of you on that mission. I-

"No!" Natsu cut her off, Mira's eyes drifting from the ground up to Natsu. "We all wanted to be there! You can't blame yourself."

Mira grasped his arm, a determined look appearing on her face.

"Well then you can't blame yourself either!" Mira exclaimed passionately, as tears started to form in the corner of her eyes.

Natsu was caught off-guard. He stopped crying momentarily, as his eyes just gazed into Mira's.

"Lisanna wouldn't want you to do this to yourself. So stop it!"

Natsu went completely silent, as he contemplated the words of Mira, the waves of despair slowly dissipated.

Then Natsu did something uncharacteristic of himself: he hugged the demon, Mirajane.

Mira's cheeks turned pink, as Natsu held her tightly.

"There's still something wrong with me." Natsu trembled into Mira's shoulder "...Deep down, am I just a demon?"

Mira sighed as she stroked his back. She could relate to those feelings quite well. "Natsu, did I ever tell you how I came to join Fairy Tail?"

Natsu shook his head.

"In the town that I grew up in, a demon invaded the church. I helped get rid of that demon, but in the process, I took on some of its qualities." Mira bowed her head at this point. "The townspeople were afraid of me. They called me a monster-a demon. I began to question myself what I was, so I fled my hometown."

Mira met Natsu's eyes.

"But then I found Fairy Tail. And Master helped me realize something-it didn't matter what form my magic took, demonic or otherwise. So what if, deep down you're a demon? Does that change the fact that you're also Natsu Dragneel-a blockhead who loves and cares about his guild?"

"No" Natsu muttered, still not completely out of his depressed funk, "But I still don't know what to do. What if it happens again-me turning into a demon?

"Then we'll just have to figure out how to control it. It's no different than when I learned to control Sitri." Mira replied. "So stop worrying so much." Mira lightly punched Natsu in the arm.

"...Okay." Natsu relented, with a sniffle.

Slowly Mira gained a mischievous smirk, as her thumb and forefinger pinched Natsu's cheek.

"You're so cute when you cry." Mirajane started to act like her old self again.

"Sh-shut up, Mira!" Natsu exclaimed, finally seeming to snap out of his depression.

**Walking Back Towards the Guild**

Natsu seemed much more like himself, except for the last 30 seconds. Natsu had gradually been getting quieter, almost as if he were shy of something.

Mira glanced at Natsu, confused as hell. "Okay, spit it out. What's on your mind?"

"Mira...could...could you help me gain control of my demon?

Mira sighed. Of course that's what he was thinking about.

"Tell you what. I'll make you a deal. If I help you to Master your demon," she smirked devilishly, "you do whatever I tell you to do."

Beads of sweat went down Natsu's head, as he imagined what she might have in mind. He was having serious second thoughts about getting her help.

Mira put a finger to her chin, almost thoughtfully.

"Though, I guess if you're a demon, that just means that I can use take over magic on you, and make you my slave, anyways. Her devilish grin returned

"Okay, fine." Natsu grumpily agreed, crossing his arms over his chest.

Mira giggled. "That's a good Natsu."

As Mira and Natsu approached the guild door, Mira stopped, and waited for Natsu to open the door for her. Natsu rolled his eyes, as he complied.

Mira's smile increased.

Meanwhile, up on the balcony Makarov watched as Mirajane and Natsu entered the guild. He raised his eyebrows at the fact that Natsu held the door for her, but other than that, Natsu seemed completely normal. He smiled as he took another sip of his whiskey. He had suspected that Mira would be the perfect candidate for getting through to Natsu. '_Well done, Mirajane_.' He thought to himself.


	4. Chapter 4

****Author's Note: Normally, I'm sticking with a weekly update on Thursday-that being said, I'm just so pleased with the reception of this that I decided to post a bonus chapter this week. (Cheers!) Thanks Moshiyari for the review! Reviews are always welcome and appreciated. And don't worry, the story will start picking up-there will be fluff, and adventure, and the taming of END****

**A Few Days Later**

It was a mournful day, in Fairy Tail, every member dressed in various shades of dark clothing. Erza was requipped out of her usual armor, wearing a dark patterned top, and skirt. Elfman wore a dark grey pinstripe suit and Mira had forgone her usual punk/gothic attire for a black sleeveless dress. Even Gray was, unusually, clothed, wearing a dark blue shirt and pants. The sky itself wore a murky shade of grey, as rain poured over Magnolia.

Makarov stood at the head of the assembly, standing next to a newly erected granite gravestone-_In remembrance of our beloved sister and friend, Lisanna Strauss,_ it read. Tears were found in the corner of his eyes, as his gravelly voice spoke out:

"Today, we are here to remember a great wizard, and a greater friend." Makarov's voice, usually stern and resolute was wavering. "Lisanna brought a form of sunshine to our guildhall, that few could hope to replicate. Her sweet demeanor and caring nature made her friend to most, if not to all."

Many a tear stained face responded with a bittersweet smile.

"Unlike many, she learned her magic, not out of a desire to gain strength, or power, but out of a desire to connect to her siblings." Makarov continued. "She leaves behind many friends, a guild, and a family. We will all miss her dearly."

Makarov sighed, at this point. "But, knowing Lisanna, she wouldn't want us to mourn. She wouldn't want us to cry. She would want us to come together. And so we shall."

At this, the master raised his hand in the Fairy Tail symbol salute, to which everyone in the crowd responded. "Farewell, Lisanna. May we cross paths again someday."

After this, each person approached the grave, and paid their individual respects. One of the last to do so was our resident fire dragon slayer. As he approached the grave, a momentary wave of despair could be felt, before a hand found its way to his shoulder. Natsu looked over his shoulder, to see Elfman nod encouragingly at him. At that gesture, Natsu couldn't hold back the wave of tears.

In his heart he spoke to Lisanna's grave.

"I swear, Lisanna." Natsu clenched his fists. "I swear that someday, I'll get my demon under control.' He stared intensely at the grave. "So that one day, I'll be able to protect people with it, instead of hurting them."

Natsu turned slowly away from Lisanna's grave, facing away from the past, and into the future.

**The Next day**

Natsu had not slept well at all, the last few nights. Last night was no exception. Today he was going to start training with Mirajane. Natsu swallowed hard, at that thought-training with the demon. And, unfortunately, he still had no idea what Mirajane would make him do, in exchange.

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He'd do whatever it took to conquer his inner demon. "I'm all fired up!" He thought to himself, with a grin. He decided he'd begin with his classic morning routine: 200 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and a 30 minute run. By the time he finished his morning routine, it would probably be just before noon-about the same time that Mira would generally get to the guild.

Natsu finished up his routine, and took a quick shower, before heading off to the guild.

**At the Guildhall**

Mira was biding her time outside of the door, waiting for Natsu, with a small smirk on her face. It was time for him to pay up-she had her first 'request' for him.

Natsu walked unassumingly toward the guildhall, when suddenly, he was yanked off the path.

"Naaatsuuu." Mira spoke in a sing-song voice. Natsu shivered. He didn't like her tone of voice.

"I've changed my mind! I don't wanna die!" Natsu exclaimed, trying to pull away.

Mira punched him on the arm. "You can't back out now, I already have my first request for you!" A large smirk now covered her face. "I need you to take this 'frosting,' and put it Erza's strawberry shortcake."

"But that's not frosting, that's mayonna-" Natsu began

"It doesn't matter _what _it is," Mirajane cut him off, "I'm telling you, smear it on Erza's shortcake."

Natsu gulped. If he was caught...he would be dead. But if he didn't do it-he glanced at Mira's menacing aura, sweat trailing down his neck-he would also be dead.

Natsu took the jar of 'frosting' and slowly moved his way into the guildhall.

Meanwhile, Makarov watched the guild from the balcony of the guildhall, smoking his pipe. He watched as Natsu 'snuck' his way into the guild, peering both ways before moving 'stealthily' towards Erza's unattended shortcake.

Natsu smeared the 'frosting' on Erza's shortcake, right before he bolted out of the guild at top speed.

Makarov chuckled. Nobody messed with Erza's cake, unless they had a death wish. He had his suspicions who might be behind Natsu's actions.

**Later that day**

Makarov heard a knock on the door to his office.

"Come in" he mumbled, still half-focusing on his mountain of paperwork.

In came the demon of Fairy Tail, with a serious look on her face, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Master." Mirajane said in an urgent tone.

Makarov turned away from his paperwork, sensing that Mirajane needed his full attention.

"What is it, Mirajane?"

"Do you remember the day after Lisanna's death, when you had me go and talk to Natsu?" Mira shifted on her feet.

Makarov nodded in the affirmative.

"Natsu approached me afterwards, and asked me to help him learn control over his demonic powers. I agreed, but…" Mira looked down at her feet, obviously uncomfortable.

Makarov nodded understandingly. "But it would be dangerous, at best, for you to help him alone."

Mira looked up into Makarov's eyes, confirming his suspicions.

Makarov smiled at Mira. "Then I guess I'll just tag along, as well."

Mira smiled in gratitude. "I'll go get Natsu, if you'll meet us in the woods by Natsu's place. Just...don't tell him that I asked you to come. I think that he's still sensitive about his demonic form. I don't want him to feel like I don't trust him."

"If that's the case, why don't you bring him closer to the guild to train, so that my stepping out and watching will be less conspicuous." Makarov suggested.

"Thanks, Master." Mirajane finished, before promptly leaving his office.

**Outside of the Guild Hall**

Mira and Natsu stood outside, the weather hot and blistering. Makarov sat at a distance, sipping some whiskey from his cup.

"Okay Natsu, go ahead and transform." Mira instructed him.

A bead of sweat trailed down Natsu's forehead. "I can't just do it on demand!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Why not? I can use Takeover: Satan Soul whenever I want." Mira stated, putting her hands on her hips. "Just do whatever you did the first time."

"But I didn't do it on purpose the first time!" Natsu said, exasperated. "It just happened!"

"Well make it 'just happen' again!"

As Mira and Natsu kept arguing back and forth about why Natsu should be able to just transform, Makarov decided to pipe in: "Why don't you try to recreate the same conditions that happened during the mission?"

"I get it. So Mira and I have gotta fight?" Natsu smiled, punching his fist into his other hand. "I'm all fired up!"

Without any advanced warning, Natsu suddenly sprang at Mira, arms trailing to the sides. "Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!"

Mira dodged to her left, responding with a quick transformation into Satan Soul form. "Nice try." she said, charging up a Soul Extinctor, "But you'll have to be faster than that!"

Natsu smiled as he also dodged her attack, losing all other thoughts in the heat of the battle.

The battle shifted back and forth between physical and magical: Left hook-blocked. Right uppercut-dodged. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist"-caught in Mirajane's hand.

Makarov watched as they exchanged blows-much more were received on the part of Natsu. Still, it was interesting to note that Natsu was lasting a lot longer against Mira than he usually did.

As the battle seemed to be drawing to a close, Natsu pushed himself to perform one final attack.

"With a flame on the right hand…" Natsu panted, "and a flame on the left hand…" Natsu continued, "When you combine the flames together…Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"

"Soul Extinctor!" The two blasts collided, creating a massive shockwave that knocked Natsu out cold.

**7 Days Later**

Natsu spat out some blood, as he rose from the ground. He'd just taken another beating, courtesy of The Demon of Fairy Tail. It was a common occurrence, over the past week.

"Mira, I hate to say it, but I don't think this is working." Natsu said, shaking his head.

"What, are you giving up so easily?" Mira said, sweat rolling down her brow. (Natsu had been steadily improving, making her fights with him slightly more aerobic than she remembered them being.)

An angry tick mark appeared on Natsu's brow. "Of course I'm not giving up!"

"Then what are you saying?" Mira said, crossing her arms.

"I'm just saying that this isn't working. I haven't transformed a single time." Natsu said.

Makarov finally piped in, with a sigh. "I was afraid that this might be the case."

"Afraid that what might be the case, gramps?" Natsu asked, tilting his head.

"I think that for the demon to rear its head, you need to be in actual, mortal danger." Makarov explained.

"You don't think that Mira qualifies as mortal danger?!" Natsu said, exasperated.

Now it was Mira's turn to be angry. "Do you want to see what mortal danger is like, dear Natsu?" She said in a sickly sweet tone.

Natsu shivered, as Makarov laughed.

"Unfortunately-or fortunately, for that matter-Mira would never purposely endanger your life. Which brings me to my next point: Natsu, I think that you need to spread your wings a bit."

"What are talking about, gramps?" Natsu asked, scratching his head.

Makarov sighed. "I'm saying that you need to get out in the world, get in some trouble, encounter _real_ danger. I think only then will your demonic side come out."

"I guess that makes sense." Mira said contemplatively, holding her finger to her chin.

"But I don't think that you should go at it alone." Makarov added, staring pointedly at Mirajane.

"Wait, you want _me_ to go!?" Mira exclaimed.

"I think that you would be the best candidate for helping Natsu gain control over his inner demon." '_And with her gone, I can finally read the smutty section of Sorcerer's Weekly in peace._' Makarov thought with a pervy grin.

Mirajane stared at Makarov in suspicion. She was about to object until she met Natsu's eyes. In his eyes was an earnestness that made her pause. '_I promised him that I would help him_.' She thought to herself.

"Okay, I'll go" She sighed, the ghost of a smile crossing her face.


	5. Chapter 5

*****Author's note: This chapter, while necessary, doesn't have much action. I hope that I made it entertaining enough, nonetheless. (Don't worry; there's plenty of action and fluff in the next few chapters, which have already been written) Anyways, Thanks ElfGremlin for the review, and thanks always to those who have favorited/followed this story; you are my motivation!*****

**Back at the Guild**

Erza was on the second floor, peering at the list of S-classed quests. She couldn't decide between the request to break the curse on a cursed forest, or the quest to retrieve the magical artifact that was stolen from the Magic Council. While Erza stood, contemplating her options, Gray was on the first floor, asking around if anyone had seen his clothes.

"Can't you just make something out of ice?" Cana said, pointing at his lack of attire.

"Maybe if you weren't so drunk, you'd realize that ice is _brittle_-terrible for making clothes." Grey replied.

"Wanna see how _drunk_ I am?" Cana said, flashing one of her cards dangerously, as an angry tick mark appeared on her head.

"Maybe I do." Gray responded, getting into an ice-make stance.

Erza sighed as she started down the stairs, determined to end the fight before it started.

She was halfway to Cana and Gray when suddenly the guild door busted open.

In came Natsu, closely tailed by Mirajane, and they both had serious looks on their faces.

Erza watched, now distracted, as they made their way directly for the second floor.

Erza ran to intercept Natsu, grabbing him by the vest.

"What do you think you're doing?" She demanded "You know that you're not allowed on that floor!"

"Back off, Erza!" Natsu demanded, "Gramps gave me orders to go on some quests with Mira!"

The guild went completely silent at Natsu's words, while Gray immediately started sweating. '_Did he just tell Erza to back off!? Does he have some kind of death wish!?'_

"You're not ready for these types of quests." Erza persisted, a frightening aura starting to flow around her.

"Like hell I'm not!" Natsu exclaimed, the air around him heating up.

Now Erza looked pissed. "Now listen here, Natsu, I'm not saying this lightly. I'm saying this for your own good!"

"But is it for his own good?" Mirajane finally piped in. "Or do you just have an overprotective mother complex?"

Suddenly, Erza dropped Natsu, turning to Mira with a menacing aura.

"What did you just say, you white-haired whore!"

"I said that you have a mother complex, you flat-chested freak!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Erza and Mirajane were at each other's throats, grappling on the ground, as each tried to get the upper hand.

"Erza and Mirajane are at it again" Macao sighed

Natsu took advantage of the chaos, stepping away from the fight, and heading up to the second floor.

When he reached the second floor, he immediately ran for the job-board, snatching a handful of S-classed quests, before booking it back down.

"Hey idiot!" Gray said, stepping in front of Natsu, "You can't just go up on the second floor, grabbing a bunch of S-class missions!"

Natsu clutched the stack of papers to his chest protectively, scowling at Gray. "Like I said, gramps told Mira and I to go on some quests, so neither you nor Erza are gonna stop me!"

"And I say that you're full of crap!" Gray countered. "There's no way that the old man gave you permission, _especially_ after how that last mission ended up!

Now Natsu looked pissed. "You wanna run that by me again, popsicle dick!?"

"Are you deaf?" Gray continued, "I said that you botched the last mission so bad that a drunken Cana could've done better, you stupid lizard!

Natsu dropped the papers, and flew at Gray, flames covering his fist. Gray put up an ice shield, blocking Natsu's attack.

"Ice-make: Hammer!" Gray followed up with an overhead swing.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu melted the hammer, aiming the stream above his head.

Grey threw a right hook at Natsu, hitting him in the face. Natsu took the hit, then headbutted Gray in the nose. The fight dissolved into a series of punches and follow-ups, Natsu and Gray now rolling around on the floor similarly to Mira and Erza.

"THAT'S ENOUGH, BRATS!" Makarov stormed into the guildhall, swelling into his titanic size.

Erza, Gray, Natsu, and Mira immediately stopped, suddenly wary of the wrath of their master.

"Now tell me what the fighting is all about!" Makarov continued.

Erza was the first to break the silence. "Master, Mirajane was just about to take Natsu on some forbidden missions!"

Gray was next to speak up. "Yeah, flame brain went onto the second floor, and snagged a bunch of the S-class ones!"

Makarov sighed deeply. "Is that all?"

Gray's eyes widened, but he remained silent. Erza just stared at the master, dumbfounded.

"Mira has been instructed to take Natsu on a series of missions to...show him the ropes. They have my full blessing, taking on those missions."

"HAH! Take that, you pervy stripper!" Natsu said, right before Makarov gave him the ultimate death glare. Natsu quickly shut up, not wanting to experience his titan magic first hand.

The rest of the guild was shocked silent

Elfman was the first one to speak up.

"So soon? Right after Lisanna…" Elfman wasn't able to finish his sentence.

Mira ran over to her brother, catching him in an embrace, speaking softly just so that he could hear. "Elfman, Natsu really needs help, and I think that I'm one of the few qualified people to help him." Mira paused, meeting his eyes. "Knowing that, I think that Lisanna would want me to go."

Natsu quietly gathered the mission papers back up, recognizing that Mira and Elfman needed a moment.

Mira and Elfman ended their embrace, tears in both of their eyes. "I'm gonna need you to be strong-strong like the man that I know you can be."

"I will be...like a real man." Elfman replied, half to himself.

Mira smiled in response, before she finally turned to Natsu.

"Are you ready to leave?" She asked

"Hell yeah!" A toothy grin appeared on his face. "I'm all fired up!"

The two of them waved goodbye to the guild before stepping out of the guildhall, and onto their adventure.

**In Magnolia City**

Natsu and Mirajane were walking through Magnolia, visiting various shops to gather supplies. They stopped at one particular shop, purchasing a pack, a couple of sleeping mats, and some blankets.

After exiting the shop, Mira grabbed the collection of S-classed missions from Natsu.

"We should probably decide on which mission we are going to do first." Mira said as she rifled through the stack of papers, stopping once or twice on particular flyers, before continuing.

"I think that we should go on this one first." Mira said, holding up one of the flyers. On it was a picture of a town, with a large question mark through it.

Natsu looked at it more closely, reading the contents. "Crocus has lost contact with the border city of Eastcliffe-a locale that borders the country of Bosco. Due to the rising political tensions between Fiore and Bosco, the Magic Council is concerned at the possibility that Bosco has overrun the city. A reward of 3,000,000 jewels is offered to any mage that can either confirm the occupation of Eastcliffe, or successfully reestablish contact."

"Bosco-isn't that super far away?" Natsu asked

"Yep. We'll have to take the train-"

"Dammit!" Natsu immediately blanched.

Mira gave Natsu a demonic glare, silencing the dragon slayer.

"As I was saying, we'll have to take the train as far east as it goes-Kunugi Town-then walk the rest of the way to the border."

Natsu sulked in response, anticipating the motion sickness that he would inevitably be feeling. "Let's go get this over with." he growled, stomping in the direction of the train station.

Mira laughed in response to his antics, following closely behind him.

**At the Station**

As Mira went to the ticketmaster to purchase the train tickets, Natsu was having a staredown with the locomotive.

Natsu eyed the train with scowl, sizing it up as he would an enemy before a fight. Gradually the air around him heated up, scaring some nearby passengers, as his glare continually gained in intensity.

As Mira finished purchasing the tickets, she finally registered the heat that was emanating from the nearby dragon slayer.

"I'm not going on." Natsu finally said to himself, crossing his arms over his chest.

Mira sighed as she approached Natsu from behind. Without a word, she karate chopped him in the back of the head, knocking him out cold. She then proceeded to drag him onto the train, the other passengers sweating at her display of force.

Mirajane dragged Natsu to their compartment, dropping him onto the bench opposite hers.

"We really need to work on your motion sickness." she said, shaking her head.

It was several hours into their trip, when Natsu finally woke up. "Ugh…" he moaned, feeling both pain in his head, and nausea in his stomach.

Mirajane smiled devilishly, feeling a slight bit of sadistic entertainment at Natsu's discomfort.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, in a falsely sweet tone.

"Ugh…" He replied. "I feel awful. Why'd you have to hit me in the head?"

She dropped the 'sweet' tone of voice, now smiling again impishly. "Because you'd never have gotten on the train otherwise."

"Ugh…" Natsu moaned again. "I think I'm gonna die, Mira."

Mira rolled her eyes, before patting the spot on the bench next to her. "Come over here."

Natsu crawled his way across the compartment, pushing himself onto her bench.

"What now?" Natsu asked, sickly sweat pouring down his face.

"Lay your head down." Mira said, pulling his head into her lap.

After a moment he seemed to relax, his breathing slowly returning to normal.

"Thanks, Mira." Natsu said, closing his eyes in apparent relief.

After a few minutes, Mira absentmindedly began to run her fingers through his hair, the way that she had for Elfman in the past. She watched out the window as the miles passed, thoughts traveling to various things from Lisanna, to Natsu's transformation, and to the mission ahead.

"Mira." Natsu suddenly opened his eyes, his face turning a shade of green.

"What is it, Natsu?"

"I'm sorry." Natsu then proceeded vomit, spilling over onto Mirajane's lap.

Mira immediately punched Natsu in the head, knocking him out, once again.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Notes: SO I'm back with another, slightly longer chapter than the others have been. Maybe this will be a trend, maybe it won't. (Who knows XD). Anyways, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy! (The story should now be picking up a bit!)

Wolf1741: Thanks for the review. And yes, he was knocked TF out. probably won't be the last time, either!  
Guest: Thanks for the review!  
LoyalToaster: I have no idea. Maybe Deja Vu? XD

**At Kunugi Town's Station**

It was late in the evening when the train finally pulled up to Kunugi station. Mira had gone to the bathroom compartment to change her clothes, whereas Natsu had remained unconscious for the remainder of the ride. Mirajane shook the dragonslayer awake, carefully avoiding his face which still had remnants of vomit.

"Ugh..." Natsu moaned, blinking his eyes open. He was on the opposite bench of the compartment again, and he could smell the remnants of vomit on his face.

"It's time to get up." Mira stated, her voice devoid of any amusement.

"Why'd you have to knock me out again?" Natsu groaned.

"Why'd _you_ have to ruin my favorite pair of shorts?" Mira countered, a menacing aura surrounding her.

"It was an accident..." Natsu whimpered, intimidated by her demonic aura.

"The accident was letting you put your head on my lap. It's an accident that **won't** be happening again." Mira said fiercely. "Now go wipe that nasty barf off your face!"

Natsu complied without any more comments, fearful for his immediate safety. He ran off the train into the station, then directly to the bathroom where he proceeded to scrub his face.

Meanwhile, Mira gathered up their things, and brought them off of the train, waiting for him in the center of the station.

As she waited, she noticed decorations all throughout the station, as if some sort of festival were going on. Paper lanterns hung from the walls, streamers hung from door frames and ceilings, and many people were dressed in traditional yukatas.

"I wonder what's going on?" Natsu said, apparently having finished up in the bathroom.

"It's some sort of festival." Mira said, "Though I'm not sure which festival it is-there aren't any major holidays anytime soon."

"I say we check it out!" Natsu said, excitement growing on his face.

Mira shook her head with a sigh. "I guess it couldn't hurt."

Natsu grabbed her hand, and pulled her out of the station at top speed, not wanting to miss anything.

Mira blushed at the physical contact.

The town itself was even more decorated than the station. Merchant stalls and portable shrines lined the streets, as people in traditional clothing congregated. Wooden statues were covered in ofuda, and more paper lanterns and streamers hung from nearby buildings.

In the center of town was a large square, full of food stalls and street performers.

Natsu dragged Mira towards the square, stopping when he saw a man breathe fire.

"OH MY GOSH! IT'S ANOTHER DRAGON SLAYER!" Natsu yelled excitedly.

Mira yanked his arm back as she rolled her eyes. "It's not another dragon slayer, that's a street performer trick. In fact, I don't even think he's using magic."

Natsu went from excited to angry in the blink of an eye. "What, so he's a phony!?" He punched his fist into his other hand. "I'll show them what a real fire-breather can do!"

Natsu let go of Mira's hand, running towards the center of the crowd. Mira facepalmed, before reluctantly following.

Natsu had pushed through the crowd to the street performer, pointing his finger at the entertainer.

"That's not how you breathe fire!"

"Shut up kid, I'm trying to do my act!" The entertainer said, trying to shoo Natsu away.

Natsu ignored the man's request, now pointing his finger to his own chest. "_This_ is how you breathe fire-Fire Dragon's Roar!" A massive flame came out of Natsu's mouth, engulfing sky overhead.

The spectator's clapped for the display, as Mira grabbed Natsu by the collar of his shirt. "That's enough, flame boy." She said, dragging him away. A few spectators laughed at Natsu's expense.

Once they were a distance away, Natsu spoke up in a pouty voice. "Hey Mira, what was that for? The crowd liked it."

Mira flicked his forehead. "That's not the point, Natsu. You shouldn't go interrupting people's performances, it's embarrassing."

Natsu crossed his arms, indignantly. "Tch. Fine."

"That's a good Natsu." Mira smirked. "Let's go find a place to stay for the night."

So Mira and Natsu wandered the town, looking for signs of an inn. After a few hundred feet, a sign on the left side of the street caught their attention: 'The Dusty Hat Lodge.'

Natsu and Mira wandered into the lodge, walking up to a busty-looking receptionist.

"Happy Founder's Festival!" The woman said with a smile, "How may I help you this evening?"

"We'd like to book a room, if we could." Mira spoke up.

"For how many nights?" The buxom woman inquired.

"Just the one night." Mira replied

"Okay, here's the key to your room. Make sure that you enjoy the festivities, while you're in town." The woman said with a wink.

"I think that we will." Mira said with a smile. Mira took the room key from the woman at the counter, then grabbed Natsu's hand. "Let's get something to eat, I'm starving."

"Yeah, I'm starving too." Natsu agreed. "Aw, man I can smell shish-kabobs, teriyaki, fried bread, and...Yakitori!"

Natsu hastily pulled Mira towards the food stalls, breaking away from her as soon as he spotted the vendor that sold Yakitori. He quickly ordered several sticks, stuffing his mouth as fast as he could.

"Aw yeah, this food is awesome!" Natsu mumbled through his mouth that was full.

Mira rolled her eyes, "Wow, you're kind of a slob." she said, as she bought 2 sticks of Yakitori for herself.

Mira quietly finished her food as Natsu continued to eat, pieces of meat flying left and right.

"Excuse me" an elderly gentleman said, approaching Mira. "Would you and your friend like to make a paper wish lantern?"

"A paper wish lantern?" Mira asked, bewildered, as the man handed her two small pieces of paper.

"Yes." the old man said. "Wish lanterns are a tradition, during the founder's festival. The lanterns are said to carry the wishes of those who make them to the gods."

"Sounds interesting." Mira said, intrigued. "Hey Natsu, come over here!"

Natsu momentarily stopped his eating, looking over at Mira.

"What's up?" Natsu questioned, tilting his head.

"Just come over here." Mira said

Natsu walked reluctantly over to Mira, not really wanting to leave his food behind.

"We're going to make a wish." Mira said, shoving a piece of paper into his hands. "Write your wish on the paper, so that we can attach it to a lantern."

"What for?" Natsu questioned.

"It's part of the damn festival, so just do it!" Mirajane pressed him.

Natsu hurriedly scribbled something onto his paper, as Mira took a moment to think about what she wanted to write.

After a moment, she carefully scrawled her wish onto her paper, folding it up afterwards.

The elderly gentleman then spoke up. "Now you just go over to the docks, where they are releasing the lanterns, and attach both of your wishes."

"Oh, Okay. Thank you!" Mira said, pulling Natsu in the direction of the docks.

The docks were several hundred feet to the south, attached to a small lake. Mira pulled Natsu through the crowds, slowing down as they neared the docks. Dozens of pairs of people were releasing the floating paper lanterns over the lake. Nearby, a vendor was handing out paper lanterns to people.

Mira pulled Natsu over to the vendor, to get a lantern. They quickly attached the papers to the bottom, before Natsu lit the lantern.

As Natsu went forward to release the lantern over the lake, an elderly woman approached Mira.

"Oh, you two look like such a lovely couple." The woman said, in hushed, conspiratorial tones.

"C-Couple!?" Mira said, blushing heavily.

"Yes." The elderly woman said, smiling, "Why else would you be releasing a _lover's wish lantern_?"

Mira was glad that Natsu was out of hearing distance, as she had no idea how he would react.

Mira watched as the lantern that Natsu released floated out over the water, merging with the rest of the group of lanterns.

Natsu walked back to Mira, a toothy grin on his face. "That was kinda cool Mira, thanks for suggesting it!"

"N-No problem." She spluttered, still flustered from the elderly woman's comment.

The elderly woman simply smiled at their interaction.

Mira grabbed Natsu by the arm, pulling him away before the lady could make any more comments.

"So what did you wish for?" Natsu asked, curiously.

"None of your business." Mira replied, having regained her composure.

"Well I'll tell you what I wished for; I wished for control over my demon side, so that I can beat the snot out of Gray!" Natsu grinned.

Mira smiled internally. That answer was SO Natsu.

As they walked back into the thick of the festival, Mira yawned slightly.

"Natsu, I'm feeling tired, I think that it's time that we head back to the inn." Mira said.

"Aww. But the festival is still going on! There's so much that we could do!" Natsu whined.

"Like what?"

"Well, there's still the teriyaki to try, and the fried bread, and we haven't even _looked_ at all the varieties of shish-kabobs!" Natsu said, getting excited.

"So, in other words, you just want to eat more food…" Mira stated, flatly.

"Hehe…yeah, I guess you're right." Natsu scratched the back of his head, feeling sheepish.

"If that's what you want to do, go right ahead. _I'm_ going to go to bed, though." Mira said.

"Fine, I'm coming too. Lemme at least grab some of the fried bread along the way." Natsu moped.

Natsu grabbed some fried bread as they walked back toward the inn, grumbling something about Mira being a party pooper.

They walked into the inn, stopping by the front desk to wave at the receptionist, before heading up to their room.

The room was small, but comfortable. It had 2 separate twin-sized beds, along with a writing desk and a little lamp. Attached to the room was a small bathroom.

Natsu immediately crashed onto his bed, without changing out of his clothes.

Mira went into the bathroom and changed into her pajamas-a white tank top, with a pair of black short-shorts.

When Mira exited the bathroom, Natsu was already asleep, snoring peacefully in his bed.

"Oh, Natsu." Mira said, shaking her head with a smile. She quietly slipped into her bed, quickly succumbing to sleep.

**The Next Morning**

The next morning, Natsu and Mira arose early, wanting to make it to Eastcliffe by early afternoon.

After a quick breakfast (Well, quick for mira-Natsu eating twice as much food as her), the two set off for Eastcliffe.

The walk to Eastcliffe was pleasant. It wound through a light forest along a well-trodden path, plants in full bloom due to the time of year.

By about 2:00, Natsu and Mira spotted Eastcliffe in the distance. As they approached signs of abandonment became apparent. MagiCarts were ditched by the side of the road, buildings were boarded up, shutters were closed, and there were no signs of smoke-typical of a town with a living population.

"I don't think there's anyone living here." Natsu commented, as they continued approaching the town.

"Something definitely seems off about this place," Mira agreed. "We need to be careful-remember the flyer said something about a potential invasion from Bosco."

"Was it invaded...or more like wiped out?" Natsu questioned.

Natsu and Mira slowly approached the town square, an eerie silence hanging over the town.

Shadows hung from the taller buildings, casting the town square into semi-darkness. In the center of the square lay a single body, facedown, and unmoving.

Throwing caution to the wind, Natsu ran to the man, flipping him over, then shaking him to try and wake him up. Mira followed cautiously behind, eyes darting left and right, to watch for any signs of danger.

As Natsu shook him, the man's eyes blinked halfway open, a distant look in his eyes.

"What the hell happened here!?" Natsu asked

"You've...got to...get out…" The man wheezed out, as best as he could. "...Run" The man's face slowly fell slack, eyes still half open, as his breathing stopped.

"Old man?!" Natsu said, shaking the man. "Old man!"

Suddenly, a cold feeling descended over the square, as the hair on the back of Mira's neck rose.

"Natsu, we need to leave, now!" Mira said in a panic.

"Oh, it's much too late for that." A voice spoke from the shadows. Mira's eyes snapped towards the source of the voice, but found nothing.

"WHO GOES THERE!?" Natsu demanded, as he dropped the dead man to the ground.

"Hehehe...such a fiery personality-perfect for our needs." the voice said.

"SHOW YOURSELF, YOU COWARD!" Natsu demanded, flames appearing on his hands, as Mira shifted into her Satan Soul form.

"Oh my, it looks like we have a couple of mages." The voice chuckled. "Even better."

"Allow me to introduce myself" the voice spoke, as the shadows of the nearby buildings began shifting, coagulating into a tangible form. "My name's Diablo-Diablo the godslayer." The voice continued, as it finally took the shape of a man.

"And I'm guessing that you're the one responsible for all of these deaths." Natsu spoke, his fists shaking at his sides.

Diablo smiled a wicked smile in response. "Perhaps."

Mira stepped away from Natsu, putting herself in a proper attacking stance.

"And you said you're a godslayer, huh?" Natsu said menacingly. "We'll just have to see which is stronger then-a dragon, or a god!"

Without warning, Natsu sprang at Diablo, fists blazing. Meanwhile, Mira began to charge a Soul Extinctor, holding it back until Natsu was out of the way.

Diablo's shadows shot forward, catching Natsu's fists, stopping his attack in its tracks.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu continued his assault, despite his hands being immobilized. Diablo thickened the shadows in front of him, completely nullifying his attack.

"Get back Natsu!" Mira exclaimed, having a full charge ready.

"I can't! His stupid shadows are holding me in place!"

"Now it's my turn: Shadow God's Bellow!" A blast of shadows burst from Diablo's mouth, making a direct hit on Natsu.

Natsu was blown from Diablo's grasp by the sheer force of the blast. Natsu slowly rose to his feet, his body bruised, but his pride still intact.

"Soul Extinctor!" Mirajane yelled, as she blasted a beam of demonic energy at Diablo.

"Shadow God's Umbra!" Diablo yelled, as a vortex of darkness emanated from his chest swallowing the beam.

"Natsu, whatever you do, don't get caught by his shadows again." Mirajane warned, as she herself dodged a moving shadow.

"In that case; with a flame on the right hand," Natsu began "and a flame on the left hand...when you combine the flames together…Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!"

As the massive ball of fire headed towards Diablo, Mirajane began charging her next attack.

"Shadow God's Shadow Puppets." Suddenly a swarm of shadow puppets rose from the ground, taking the brunt of Natsu's fireball, then turning to chase after the dragon slayer.

"Evil Explosion!" Mirajane released her attack, strafing the beam across the puppets, then onto Diablo.

Diablo was blasted back by the force, crashing into one of the derelict buildings.

He rose after a couple of seconds. "Well that one kinda hurt." Diablo said, as he cracked his knuckles. "Too bad it's gonna be over after this." He then proceeded to raise his arms to the sky. "Shadow God's Total Eclipse!"

From Diablo's fingertips, an immense darkness filled the sky blanketing out the sun. Natsu and Mira began suffocating, as if all of the air in the world had suddenly vanished.

Natsu and mira both fell to the ground, choking on darkness, as their consciousness slowly slipped away.


	7. Chapter 7

**In a dark chamber.**

Clink. Screech. Clink. Natsu awoke to the sound of a chain dragging across the floor. His eyes slowly blinked open. He was in a dungeon, arms chained above him to the wall, legs similarly shackled to the floor. Natsu grimaced as he tried to use his magic, but found himself unable to do so. 'Must be magic nullifying handcuffs,' he thought to himself. To his left, Mira was similarly chained, though apparently still unconscious. This was definitely turning out to be harder than a typical S-classed quest. Natsu examined his cell, peering through the darkness, trying to glean any possible way of escape. In the room just outside the cell, a black altar stood, surrounded by magically inscribed circles.

"Mira." Natsu said, trying to wake up his partner. No response. "Mirajane!" Natsu said louder, still trying to wake his partner. Again there was no response. "Mira, wake up!" Natsu said as loud as he dared, as he didn't want to attract the attention of his captors.

"Dammit!" Natsu exclaimed, smacking his chain against the wall, unable to wake his partner.

"Ah, I see that you have awakened." Diablo grinned, as he slowly rose out of the shadows. "This is almost perfect timing. The preparations are just about complete-you are awake just in time to witness the rise of the great Etherious!"

"What the hell are you talking about!?" Natsu demanded, jerking against his chains.

"I speak of the greatest demon of Zeref, mentioned only once in his first book!" Diablo's voice rose in fanatical tones. "If we generate enough Curse power, we will summon forth the demon of all demons!"

"And What the hell do you need us for?!" Natsu demanded

"Why, you and your friend are the guests of honor." Diablo said, smiling darkly.

Diablo carefully unshackled Mirajane from the wall, keeping her hands bound so that she still could not perform any magic. Using his own magic, he slowly dragged her across the floor towards the door of the cell, letting his hands trail over her vulnerable form as he did so.

"You Bastard!" Natsu yelled, jerking against his chains as he tried to assault the cultist. But it was in vain.

The cultist smiled back at Natsu, now purposely tracing her curves with his fingers, taking extra time near her breasts.

Natsu's pupils constricted, as he stared in hatred at their captor. "When I get free, I'm burning those hands of yours first." Natsu said in a dark, menacing tone.

"When you are free, you too will be sacrificed, and the great Etherious will arise!" Diablo exclaimed, his hands raised in a grand gesture. "But before that, we are going to have a little 'fun'."

Diablo smiled, lowering his hands as his magic continued to drag Mira toward the altar. Meanwhile, a group of cultists descended the stairs, circling around the perimeter of the room outside.

Mira started blinking awake, as she was lifted from the floor to the altar.

"It was about time that you woke up." Diablo said, caressing the side of her face "now our ritual can begin!" He raised his hands in a grand gesture, stirring the surrounding cultists into a religious frenzy.

Natsu continued to struggle against his manacles, more blood dripping down his arms. Mira weakly tried to move, but the force of Diablo's shadow magic held her completely still.

Diablo suddenly procured a wicked-looking knife, covered in runes and magic circles.

Natsu watched in rage as Diablo stabbed his knife into Mira's arm, drawing forth both blood and screams.

"My dear, you are doing most wonderfully" Diablo said, raising the knife over another part of her arm. "Your screams are as a hymn to the great Etherious!" He said, stabbing the knife down once again.

Diablo began to work in a frenzy stabbing her faster and faster, first on her arms, then her legs.

Mira's screams echoed through the dungeon, as Natsu pulled against his chains. "YOU BASTARDS!" Tears flowed down Natsu's cheeks, as he continued to struggle. Blood trickled down his arms from where the manacles were cutting into his flesh.

Diablo panted, as he slowly pulled the knife from Mirajane's leg. "We've had our fun, but now, It's time to finish it." Diablo raised the knife high above Mirajane, poising it for a plunge into her heart.

"Hey!" Natsu yelled, getting Diablo's attention. Natsu's face was aimed downward, hair covering his eyes as he continued in a low, menacing tone. "You wanted a demon?" Natsu spoke as his form began to mutate, horns springing forth from his head, and scales growing over most of his face. Natsu raised his head, his now slitted eyes making eye contact with Diablo. "You just got one."

Natsu ripped his chains from the wall, snapping the links that held his wrists together. A massive dark pressure immediately fell over the entire dungeon. Diablo dropped mirajane, pulling his blade into a defensive position, as shadows began to form a protective shield around him. The other cultists readied various types of magic, preparing to attack Natsu.

Diablo scowled at Natsu. "Whatever you are, you cannot stop me!" A black aura made its way around his body. "I am the shadow god slayer, and I will raise Zeref's greatest Etherious!"

Natsu remained silent, hatred radiating, as he began to form a massive fireball of darkness.

"ATTACK!" yelled one of the cultists, as beams of various elemental magic fired towards the demonic dragon slayer.

Natsu responded by launching his fireball, waves of power cracking the ground as he did so. The fireball collided with the other magic, but it didn't stop. It continued its course, consuming all magic that it encountered. The fireball finally collided with Diablo's shield, in a massive explosion. The ring of cultists were blown against the walls, all of them dead or dying. Diablo remained, shield broken, hovering over Mirajane's trembling frame.

A twisted smirk overcame Natsu's face, as he began to walk towards Diablo.

"Not a step closer, or she dies!" Diablo said, pressing the knife to Mira's throat.

"Natsu!" Mira whimpered.

Natsu responded by raising his hand, a dark mist forming a path over to Diablo. The mist wrapped its way around Diablo's midsection, a mild paralytic effect overcoming him. Suddenly, a stream of dark spirits flowed from Natsu, enveloping the lower half of Diablo's body. Diablo gasped as his lower half was erased from existence.

"You...You!" Diablo exclaimed in both shock and fear. "You've used Memento Mori! The ultimate Etherious curse! What are you!?"

A twisted smirk overcame Natsu's face. "I am your end." Natsu spoke, as he suddenly appeared next to Diablo, grabbing his head in a vice-like grip, before smashing it into the wall behind. Diablo's body twitched, before going still.

Natsu released Diablo's body which fell to the floor in a clatter. Immediately, he turned, facing Mira.

"Natsu." Mira whispered, too weak to get up.

Natsu walked towards Mira, raising his hand, forming another dark fireball.

"Natsu, please." Mira begged, "You've got to take control."

Natsu slowed, seemingly affected by Mira's words. The fireball slowly dissipated as he ground his teeth, clenching his fists as his nails dug into his palms. Blood slowly trickled from his hands to the ground.

"Come back to me, Natsu." Tears formed in the corners of Mira's eyes. "I know you can do it."

Natsu slowly fell to his knees, bringing his hands to his temples, rocking back and forth as he battled for control.

Mira held her breath as she watched him battle, praying to whatever gods there were that he could do it.

"Mira." he finally whispered, as he slowly powered down.

Mira smiled weakly, as she tried to push herself up off of the altar.

"Don't." Natsu told her, examining her wounds. "Let me carry you." Natsu circled one arm beneath her legs, the other arm around her back, lifting her up from the altar. He stumbled a bit, still bruised from his beating by Diablo, but he held her firmly.

Mira's blood dripped from her arms and legs onto Natsu's arms. "We need to get you somewhere, to take care of those." Natsu said, indicating her stab wounds. He began carrying her up the stairs, stumbling again due to his own wounds.

"Natsu, I'm going to need you to cauterize them."

"But that'll hurt even more." Natsu said, concerned.

"We won't have enough time to make it to a proper doctor. I'm bleeding too much."

Natsu's face slowly turned downward.

"I'm sorry." he said, tears dripping onto Mira's frame.

"Natsu…" Mirajane said

"If I could've transformed sooner, you wouldn't have...have…" Natsu couldn't finish, as a lump formed in his throat.

Mirajane raised her bloodied hand to his face, cupping it with her hand. "Natsu, you saved our lives. That's what matters."

Natsu remained silent, carrying her up the last of the stairs, still obviously bothered. Upstairs was what looked to be the remains of the rune-knight station of Eastcliffe. Natsu found a table, and laid Mirajane down on it.

"This is gonna hurt." He said, as his fingertips began to flare.

"Just do it quickly." Mirajane responded.

Natsu grabbed one of Mirajane's hands and held it tightly, as he slowly brought his burning fingertips to a stab wound on her leg. With a determined look, and a flare of magic, he cauterized the wound. At that moment she felt like screaming, but she knew that it would only distress Natsu. Instead, she tightened her hold on his hand. He repeated the process for several wounds, before he looked back at Mira's face.

"How are you holding up?" he asked, concern lining his face.

"It hurts." she grimaced in pain. "But it still has to be done. Could you speed it up a little bit?"

Natsu nodded, beginning his task once again, now burning the wounds in rapid succession. Mira bit back another scream, as the flaming sensations seemed to intensify.

"Almost done, I just need to get the ones on your arm." Natsu switched the hand that he was holding, then quickly finished treating the wounds.

"There, we're all done." Natsu said, extinguishing the flame on his hand.

"Thank you, Natsu." Mira said, trying to stand up.

"Not yet, Mira." Natsu said, pushing her back down on the table. "This isn't my first time cauterizing wounds; I've done it to myself before. You'll reopen them if you try to move too much."

"Natsu, we have to go and tell the rune-knights what happened to this town." Mira asserted. "We don't have time to wait!"

"I'm not saying that we should wait." Natsu said, "Just...let me carry you."

Mira thought for a moment to refuse, her pride as the demon of Fairy Tail to account for. But thoughts of resisting melted away when she looked into Natsu's eyes, seeing the concern they held for her.

"...Fine." She finally relented.

Natsu smiled at her acceptance. "I'll have to carry you on my back, though. I'm a little too beat up to carry you another way."

Mira rose to her knees, so that Natsu could properly lift her onto his back. She wrapped her arms around his neck, blushing slightly at the contact.

Natsu lifted her completely from the table, wincing slightly because of his injuries, but not complaining in the slightest. "Let's go."

**Author's notes: For all those wanting more Demon Natsu, I hope that this gave a decent dose. :D Anyways, I'll be publishing next week, as usual, but updates may become bi-weekly instead of weekly, due to some recent health concerns. (Or not, maybe I'll be able to keep up the publishing schedule. We'll have to see.) Moshiyari, and Nina-chan202, thanks for the reviews, as per usual. Professor fluff, thanks for the constructive criticism. :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Notes: Back with another chapter-this one and the next are more of setup chapters for good things that follow. But stay with me; hopefully it will be an enjoyable ride! :D**

**Eastcliffe, Outside**

When Natsu and Mira arrived outside, it was nighttime. The temperature was slightly chilly, as a light breeze blew through the abandoned town. Mira nestled her body closer to Natsu, his warmth seeping through his clothes.

Natsu carried Mira down the main street of Eastcliffe, warily watching for any more signs of cult members. He used all of his senses, especially his keen sense of smell, to keep watch. As they passed the town square, Natsu noticed that the body of the old man was now gone, obviously disposed of by the cult. Natsu shook in anger, but Mira calmed him down, telling him that there was nothing they could've done for him.

This time around, the walk through the forest was anything _but_ serene. All of the nocturnal predators were out and about, which, normally, Natsu wouldn't have to worry about. But with Mirajane out of commission, and also riding on his back, Natsu recognized that it was probably best to avoid them; a few times he had to leave the path entirely to do so.

They arrived back at Kunugi town, near the crack of dawn, both worn out to the point of exhaustion. Natsu scoured the town for any signs of a medical clinic, and just happened to find one nearby The Dusty Hat Lodge. Natsu turned his head slightly, looking back at Mira.

"Mira, see that clinic over there?" Natsu indicated towards the building with a nod of his head. "They should probably take a look at you, to make sure that those wounds don't get infected."

"Shouldn't we first tell the rune knights about Eastcliffe?" Mira asked.

Natsu's face took on a stubborn look. "The rune knights can wait. You need to see a doctor."

"Natsu, 5 more minutes won't make a difference." Mira said, "Let's just hurry and get the report over with.  
"5 minutes? When was the last time you had to file a report with them!?" Natsu said, exasperated, "Because mine have always taken at least a couple of hours!"

"That's because your reports always include property damages!" Mira countered.

Natsu merely sulked in response, continuing to walk towards the clinic.

"Hey! Flame-brain, the station is the other direction." Mira said, getting irritated.

"How about a compromise?" Natsu asked, "I'll take you to the doctor, and while they're looking at you, I'll go and file the report."

Mira wanted to argue, but she also knew that Natsu was determined. She finally sighed in resignation. "Fine."

Natsu smiled at his slight victory. "Thanks, Mira."

Unbeknownst to Natsu, she smiled slightly as well.

Natsu carried her the remainder of the distance to the clinic, pushing open the door. Inside was a middle-aged man, working on some documents behind a table. Natsu approached the receptionist.

"Hey, my partner is pretty beat up here. I was wondering if you could take a look at her." Natsu said, shifting so that the receptionist could see Mira.

"My gods! What happened to her arms?" The man exclaimed, dropping his papers.

"Her legs are even worse." Natsu said, shifting her again so that the clinician could see.

"Take her to the back room, and we'll see to her immediately." The man ordered. Natsu complied, carrying Mira past the front desk, and into the room behind.

Natsu set Mira down gently on the ground, so that she could hop up onto the examining table. Shortly after, an elderly-looking woman walked in-apparently she was the healer.

"Okay Mira, I'll be back after I pay a visit to the Rune-Knight station."

Natsu left the medical facility, heading in the direction of the station when suddenly his stomach growled. His hand covered his stomach, as he felt pangs of hunger. '_I said that I'd go to the station, but man I'm starving…' _Natsu's eyes quickly scoured the street, looking for any restaurants that were open. His eyes fell upon a building with a large sign on it: The Melting Pot Tavern. '_Mira probably wouldn't mind if I grabbed something to eat first.'_ He thought, as he started walking in that direction.

**Meanwhile at the Clinic**

The elderly healer examined Mirajane's mutilated extremities, shaking her head at the severity. "What on earth have you been doing, my child?"

Mira grimaced at the memory. "It's better if you don't know"

"Well, my dear, you are lucky to be alive, after this many stab wounds. Was it your boyfriend who cauterized them?"

"Natsu's not my boyfriend." Mira said, blushing heavily

"Well whatever he is, that boy saved your life." The healer stated gravely.

'_It's not the first time, either.'_ Mira thought to herself.

The healer did a final appraisal of the injuries. "I can take care of the scabs, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to prevent some of them from scarring."

"I was afraid of that." Mirajane sighed. "How bad do you think it'll look?"

"Not too bad," The matronly woman tried to cheer her up. "I think I'll be able to manage most of the smaller scars. The biggest of them are on your upper arms."

"Well, I guess it can't be helped." Mira sighed again. "Thank you, for everything."

"Don't thank me yet." the healer said. "Though my magic will be able to seal off all of these wounds, the muscles and tissues underneath will need a little extra time to recover. You'll feel quite sore for a few days." The healer sighed. "Anyways, that's enough talking on my part. If you just lie back and relax, I'll begin the process."

Mira relaxed onto her back, complying with the healer.

**Back with Natsu**

Natsu had ordered a large meal, but he ate it in record time, as he did not want to face Mira's wrath for slacking off on the report.

"Okay, now it's time to go to the Station." He said to himself, psyching himself up. "Just a quick in-n-out, like Mira said it should be."

**3 hours Later**

"What's so hard to understand!?" Natsu yelled at the rune knight that sat across from him. "The city was wiped out by a cult!"

"_That _part of your story, while suspect, is not the main reason I call into question your story." The rune knight sneered. "What I find hard to believe is that _you_ were able to defeat an entire cult."

"Are you saying I'm weak?!" Natsu exclaimed, slamming his fist on the table.

"What I'm saying is that if the rune knights and mages of Eastcliffe were wiped out by this cult, there is no possible way that you could've done what they could not."

"Do you wanna run that by me again!? Natsu yelled, a tick mark appearing on his forehead.

"Certainly. There's no possible way that you are stronger than the rune knights."

"Wanna go a few rounds and find out?" Natsu said, lighting his hands on fire.

"Is that a threat?" the knight asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because threatening a public official is punishable by jail time." The knight gave a dark smile.

**2 Hours Later**

Mirajane thanked the healer one last time, before departing from the clinic. Silently, she wondered what was taking Natsu so long, as he had promised to return after visiting the rune knight station. With a sigh, she took off in the direction of the station, a growing feeling of unease settling in her chest.

Mira arrived at the station, pushing the doors open despite the pain that she felt in her muscles. A stately clerk sat at a desk, residing behind a barred window.

Mira approached the window, muscles groaning in agony.

"How may I serve you today?" the clerk asked, eyeing Mira with an appraising look. Apparently he liked what he saw, as his pupils began to dilate.

"I'm here to check on another mage that was supposed to have dropped by today," Mira said, silently registering his gaze.

"There's been a few; which mage in particular are you wondering about?" The man continued, leaning in closer.

"His name is Natsu; he would've been here to file the report on Eastcliffe." Mira continued.

"Oh that one." The man said with a frown, "Apparently he threatened one of the rune knights, so he's currently in a cell."

Mira groaned internally, before asking: "How long is he supposed to remain incarcerated?"

"Probably just a couple of days-enough time for him to cool off." The man said with a sympathetic smile.

Mira thought for a moment, before shifting into a more seductive pose.

"Is there any way I could get him out sooner?" She said, leaning forward on the desk, slightly exposing her cleavage. "I'd really appreciate it." She finished with a wink.

The clerk spluttered, clearly affected by her feminine wiles. "I-I might be able to do something." He gulped "L-let me talk to my superior."

Mirajane smirked as he left. '_He was way too easy.'_

She waited impatiently as the clerk went to see his boss, tapping her fingers on the counter.

Within 5 minutes, the clerk was back, this time with a rune knight, who clearly looked irked.

"So I hear that you want to spring the liar." he said, irritated.

This rubbed Mira the wrong way. "And _what_ exactly did he lie about?" She said, gritting her teeth.

"First, that idiot said that Eastcliffe wiped out by a group of cultists." He continued. "But if that wasn't enough, he said that he single-handedly defeated those supposed cultists."

"And what if a senior mage of Fairy Tail was to corroborate his story?" Mirajane said feeling her patience with the man wear thin.

"I don't care if a guild master corroborated his story-until I send some rune knights to _properly _investigate, I won't believe a word he said."

"Oh, well I'll be sure to tell that to _my_ master, you know, Makarov Dreyar, one of the wizard saints."

The rune knight slowly turned pale at Mirajane's words.

"What was your name, again?" Mirajane asked, a sickly sweet tone in her voice.

"Th-that won't be necessary!" The knight said, quickly backpedaling. "We'll dispatch some rune knights to the relief of Eastcliffe immediately!"

"And my partner will be released?" Mirajane pressed, still in a 'sweet' tone.

"Without delay." the knight said, a trail of sweat running down his forehead.

As the knight and clerk hurried off to retrieve Natsu, Mira smiled victoriously. She loved it when things went her way.

Both the knight and clerk returned within less than a minute, Natsu in tow.

"So I'm guessing that you finally decided to to pull your head out of your ass, and do something about Eastcliffe?" Natsu asked impertinently, gaining a glare from the rune knight.

Mira nearly facepalmed at Natsu's lack of tact.

"Eastcliffe will be thoroughly dealt with." The rune knight said through gritted teeth.

"Well that's good to hear. Glad we could get that all straightened out." Natsu said, his toothy grin showing how oblivious he was to the subtleties of the situation.

Before Natsu could cause any more trouble, Mirajane grabbed Natsu by the arm, and led him quickly out of the station.

"Do you always talk to rune knights like that?!" Mira asked, exasperated.

"Like what?"

"Never mind." Mira said, shaking her head. They continued at a steady pace, heading towards the Dusty Hat Lodge.

"Why did we leave so quickly, anyways? Natsu asked, "We didn't even ask about the reward money!"

"Because _you_ had already worn out our welcome, and I didn't want to have to bail you out of more jail time!" Mira said, still irritated with Natsu. "Now I'm certain that we _both_ should have gone to the rune knight's station first, before taking me to the clinic."

"No way." Natsu said firmly.

"I don't see how you could possibly disagree with me, seeing as how you ended up in jail." Mirane said, flicking his forehead.

Natsu remained silent for a moment, before speaking again, this time in a softer tone. "Are you feeling any better, after seeing the healer?"

The change in tone caught Mira off guard. "I-I'm still sore, but It's much better."

"Good." Natsu smiled. "That's what matters."

Mira blushed at his comment, as they approached the door to the Dusty Hat Lodge.

The same curvaceous receptionist greeted them with a smile. "How may I help you this afternoon?"

"We'd like to book a room again" Mira spoke up.

"Very good." the buxom woman replied, "Would you like the same suite as last time?"

"Yes, please." Mira responded.

The busty woman handed Mira the key with a smile. "Have a good evening."

Natsu and Mira retired to the bedroom, this time, as both were exhausted, both fell asleep in their clothes.


	9. Chapter 9

**Some Time Later**

Mira blinked her eyes open, as she laid, her hands and feet bound by a thick, twisted rope. It looked like she was in another dungeon.

Her mind was hazy, as she couldn't remember how she arrived there. She glanced around for Natsu, only to find that she was alone.

The last thing she remembered was retiring to her room. How in the world had she ended up here?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the piercing sound of a scream, coming from another room.

Quickly, she shifted into her Satan Soul form, bursting the bonds that held her tight. This place was obviously dangerous-she had to get out of here. She flew to the door of her cell, charging up a Demon Blast, aiming it at the cell door. A massive explosion rocked the cell, the door blasting off of its hinges. '_Looks like they underestimated me.'_ She thought with a smirk, as she flew down the connected hallway.

She passed dozens of locked cells, each of them filled with cultists who had varying degrees of mutilation.

'_What the hell is going on here?' _She thought, eyeing one of the cultists who was worse off than the others. His left arm and ear were both missing, as was a large portion of his scalp. She continued flying down the hallway, now even more eager to get away.

At the end of the hall was a set of double doors, with a large barred window set into the side. The double doors were padlocked shut, with a lock the size of her head. Mirajane powered up a Soul Extinctor, aiming it at the center of the padlocked doors. Another explosion shook the dungeon, but the door held.

'_Anti-magic doors.'_ she cursed to herself, recognizing the similarity to the cells used by the magic council. She punched the wall in frustration, the impact echoing loudly throughout the room.

Another scream echoed through the halls, this time obviously from the other side of the door. A morbid curiosity overcame her fear, as she leaned her head up to the barred window.

In the next room, strapped to a familiar black altar, Lisanna bled profusely as a hooded figure carved runic symbols into her body. Mira turned white, as the hooded figure slit another line into Lisanna's midsection.

"NO," Mira screamed, pounding her fist on the door. The hooded figure chuckled, a feminine voice giving away their gender.

The woman pulled the blade back to her lips, licking the blade in an almost sensuous manner, before stabbing it down into Lisanna's heart.

"YOU BITCH!" Mira screamed, tears flowing down her cheeks, as she pounded on the doorway. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

Suddenly, the hooded figure turned to Mira, and Mira turned white, once again.

Staring her in the face, was herself.

"You killed her." Her doppleganger said, in cold, emotionless voice.

Suddenly, Mira found herself on the other side of the door, the taste of blood in her mouth, the offending blade in her hand. Mira dropped the blade to the ground, and crumpled forward, sobbing as her head came to rest on Lisanna's corpse.

"Mira wake up!" Natsu's voice echoed through her head. She felt a rough shake, as her eyes blinked open.

Sitting on the side of her bed, was Natsu, a distressed look on his face.

Mira blinked, as tears continued to roll down her cheeks.

"Mira it was just a dream." Natsu said, concern lacing his voice.

Mira sat up, wrapping her arms around Natsu, burying her face into his chest.

Natsu stood still, flabbergasted, and unsure of what to do. Slowly his arm came up and circled around her, patting her on the back.

"I killed her." Mira wept. "I killed Lisanna!"

"Mira, it was just a dream!" Natsu repeated, patting her on the back again.

Mira held Natsu tighter, tears soaking into his vest.

"It was horrible." Mira cried. "It felt so real."

"It's over now, Mira. You don't have to cry anymore." Natsu finally let his arm rest on her back.

Mira slowly stopped crying as they embraced, though her breathing remained slightly ragged.

"If you want, I can sleep next to you, to keep you company." Natsu said, scratching the back of his head.

Mira blushed heavily at his suggestion. Knowing Natsu, he probably didn't understand the full implications of sharing a bed. Plus the fact that the beds were twin sized-they'd be practically sleeping on top of each other.

"No, just...stay with me until I fall back asleep again." she said

Natsu nodded, shifting himself out of the embrace, but still holding her hand at her bedside.

As the minutes passed, Natsu holding Mira's hand, Mira slowly seemed to drift off.

'_Is she asleep?'_ Natsu wondered, not sure how to check without waking her up. He remained at her bedside, holding her hand, as several more minutes passed. Drowsiness slowly overcame him as he eventually succumbed, passing out on the side of her bed.

**The Next Morning**

Mira woke up to the light of the sun's rays, pouring in through the window. She closed her eyes as she slowly stretched her limbs, until her left arm brushed against something solid. Her eyes instantly shot back open, as she looked to her left. Hanging halfway off her bed, was a sleeping Natsu. Mira huffed in annoyance; after she had specifically told him _not _to sleep next to her, he ended up doing that very thing. Mira shoved Natsu off of the bed, his body crashing to the floor in a heap.

"Whazzat?!" Natsu spluttered, waking up quite abruptly.

Mira got up out of her bed and placed her hands on her hips, a scowl plastered on her face.

Natsu looked up from the floor at Mira's face, a mixture of confusion and terror on his face. "W-what's wrong Mira?"

"You. Slept. In. My. BED!" She growled at him, slamming her pillow down onto his face.

"It was an accident, I swear!" Natsu blanched, throwing his arms over his face to protect it from further assault.

"It better have been!" Mira warned, as she loomed dangerously over Natsu. "And if it happens again…"

"It won't happen again!" Natsu promised, sweat trailing down his forehead.

Mira turned away from Natsu, secretly flustered by the whole situation. "It better not." She spoke as she gathered up some clothes, then headed towards the bathroom to shower.

Natsu breathed a sigh of relief, glad that he got off as easily as he did.

**Later That Day**

As the healer had stated, Mira was still sore despite the healing procedure that she had undergone.

"Natsu, I want to go to Balsam Village." Mira stated

"Where the heck is Balsam Village?" Natsu asked

"It's a small spa town that's just west of Magnolia."

Natsu turned white. "W-west of Magnolia. That's like 10 hours from here by train!"

Mira smirked devilishly. "Try more like 12 hours."

"Why the heck would we want to go there?!" Natsu exclaimed. "Isn't there a mission that's somewhere closer!?"

"Natsu, it wouldn't be for a mission...It would be for my healing."

Natsu went quiet for a minute, before speaking up again. "It must be pretty bad, huh?"

"Yes." Mira gritted her teeth, as a spasm of pain went through her muscles. "I can barely stand to walk."

"Okay then." Natsu conceded quietly. "We can go."

Mira looked at Natsu, surprised that he wasn't putting up more of a fight. This trip would be even longer than the last one, yet here he was, agreeing to go. Mira couldn't help but smile, recognizing his sacrifice.

"Thank you, Natsu."

**At The Train Station**

Natsu stared at the train in front of him in defeat. He was going on the train, and this time it was semi-voluntarily. He groaned in anticipation of the sickness that he would be feeling for the next 12 hours.

Mira put her hand on his shoulder, feeling slightly guilty for putting him through this. "We don't have to go, if you don't want to."

Natsu smiled a bittersweet smile. "No, It'll make you feel better."

"Then I'm sorry." Mira said

"Sorry for what?" Natsu asked, slightly confused.

Instead of answering, Mira slid her arm around his neck, putting him into a sleeper hold, cutting off the oxygen to his brain. Natsu struggled for several seconds, until finally he fell unconscious.

"Sorry for having to do this." Mira said, as she dragged him into a train compartment.

**At Balsam Village's Station**

When the train stopped, it was past one in the morning. Natsu jumped up off the bench, yelling "I'M ALIVE!"

Mira laughed at his antics, as she gathered up their belongings.

They walked out into the station, this one much smaller than the one found in Kunugi town. The station was styled in an oriental fashion, with pagoda-style roofing, tatami mat flooring, and shōji doors. Metal lanterns hung from the ceiling, mildly illuminating the station. Right outside the station, a carefully groomed zen garden, with several large rocks stood to either side of a stone path. A sōzu fountain broke up the sounds of quiet, with the occasional tap of the bamboo against the rock base.

Mira smiled serenely. This place was definitely relaxing.

As they walked down the main street towards the inn, they couldn't help but notice that some of the buildings were damaged. One building was missing a section of roofing, another had collapsed in a corner of the building, while yet another was completely destroyed, nothing more than a pile of rubble.

As they approached the inn, they saw that while it was constructed similarly to the station, the top tier of the pagoda looked like it had been ripped off. The rock path that led to the entrance was lined with tōrō lanterns in various states of disrepair, only a few which lit the way. Natsu and Mira opened the front door, to find the front clerk dozing off. Mira cleared her throat, awakening the clerk, who then smiled in a dazed sort of way at Natsu and Mira.

"It's kinda late to be wandering in, don'tcha think?" The clerk yawned.

Natsu scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, we left kinda late to get on the train. Anyways, what the heck happened to this town?"

"Wyverns." The clerk said, a grimace covering his once-dazed face. "A flock of green wyverns have decided to locate themselves about five miles to the northwest. The damage you see happened within the past few days."

"Why hasn't anyone done anything about it?" Natsu asked perturbed.

"We've sent word to a few of the nearby guilds, but we've yet to receive a response."

"There's a lot of willing guilds nearby; someone will take care of it." Mira said, recognizing that she was still in no condition to go Wyvern hunting.

Unlike with Mira however, the thoughts in Natsu's head were taking a different direction. '_I could take care of a couple of measly Wyverns.' _

"Anyways, is the spa still open?" Mira asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately no. The spa closes down at midnight, but it opens up pretty early in the morning."

Mira sighed, but relented. Though she'd really been looking forward to the spa tonight, she could wait another few hours.

"Guess there's nothing we can do about tonight." Mira said, turning to Natsu "We'll have to book a room, and go to the spa first thing in the morning."

Natsu addressed the clerk. "Well, I guess we'll book a room for the night."

"Very well. Your room is the one at the end of the hall. Here's the key."

"Thanks." Mira said, grabbing the key, walking in the direction of the room.

Natsu stopped for a moment along the way to the room, looking at a bulletin board that was filled with requests, sort of like the board at the guild hall. One request in particular caught his attention: Wanted: Capable Wyvern Exterminator. A reward of 500,000 jewel and unlimited lifetime spa visits will be offered to anyone that can clear the nest that has been established nearby Balsam Village.

Natsu looked over to Mira, who was walking towards the room, then back at the request board. He _was_ a dragon slayer, and wyverns were practically an inferior species of the draconic family. Natsu hurriedly grabbed the leaflet, stuffing it into his pocket. When Mira went to the spa, tomorrow, he was going to go wyvern hunting.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Notes: I tried to put a little more action in this chapter. Hopefully we see things starting to pick up. :D Again, thanks for the reviews.**

**The Next Morning**

Mira woke up first as she rolled over in her sleep, straining some of her sore muscles. She groaned as she got up, blinking her eyes slowly open. Natsu was still fast asleep on his bed, snoring quietly as he hugged his pillows. Mira smiled. He was almost cute when he was sleeping.

Not wanting to disturb Natsu, Mira quietly got out of bed, tiptoeing first to the bathroom to grab a towel, then towards the door to head in the direction of the spa.

Meanwhile, Natsu smiled. His fake sleeping act had worked. While Mira relaxed in the girl's side of the spa, Natsu could finally sneak off towards the wyvern nest.

Natsu hurriedly got dressed into his normal vest and pants, a fierce determination and excitement putting a spring in his step. Taking directions from the front clerk at the inn, Natsu rushed in the direction of the wyverns' nest, eager to take care of things before Mira had a chance to find out what he was doing.

Natsu made good time, making the five mile journey in under an hour, slowing as he saw a group of trees uprooted with the surrounding vegetation obviously disturbed-signs of the wyverns' nest. Natsu circled around the nest, making sure that he was downwind of it, so that the wyverns wouldn't catch his scent. Stealthily, he approached, seeing two rather large wyverns, and a smaller one that was obviously an adolescent. Unlike blizzardverns, green wyverns were carnivorous. The wyverns were feeding, eating a rather large collection of sheep, that Natsu assumed had to have been from one of the local farms. Natsu smiled ferociously. '_I'm all fired up!"_ he thought to himself, as he prepped an attack. "Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" he yelled, aiming the attack one of the larger wyverns. The wyvern was caught off-guard, taking the full brunt of the attack. It roared in pain, as its right wing was crippled by the attack.

The other wyverns were quick to respond, flying up into the air, one dive-bombing Natsu at incredible speed. Natsu dove to the right, barely dodging the talons of the second largest wyvern, as the adolescent began to circle around, looking for an opportunity to attack. Natsu ran towards the crippled wyvern, flames igniting on his feet, propelling him towards his target. "Fire Dragon's Claw!" His enflamed foot collided with the wyvern's head, killing it instantly. Meanwhile, the adolescent dove at Natsu, clipping him in the back of the head, knocking him over. Natsu rolled to his left, dodging another dive from the 2nd largest wyvern, before hopping back on his feet. "It'll take more than that to keep me down!" he yelled as he punched his fist into his hand. The two wyverns continued to circle around him, roaring as they alternated dives, trying to hit him.

**Meanwhile at The Spa**

Mira sighed at the warmth of the hot spring. The past hour and a half had been nothing but bliss. The only thing that bothered her was the few looks that she got, at the scars that were on her arms and legs, as she got into the water.

She stared at one of the larger scars in thought. Of course she felt self-conscious about how she looked now; what lady wouldn't feel that way? But to her surprise, she felt other emotions. Gratitude, and some form of warmth in her chest. The gratitude, she could easily identify the reasons behind-Natsu had literally saved her life. But the warmth, why did she also feel a warmth in her chest when she thought of the scars-of Natsu? She ran her fingers over one of them lightly.

Natsu had been there for her more than just to save her life. Her thoughts came back to the way that Natsu insisted on her getting treated before reporting to the rune knights-to how Natsu had agreed to go on a train, despite his motion sickness, all so she could relax in the spa. Finally, her thoughts came back to her nightmare, and his inexperienced embrace, in an effort to comfort her. A gentle smile came to her face. Did she...like Natsu?

**Back With the wyverns**

Natsu had sustained some moderate damage from the alternating attacks of the wyverns, but he gave as good as he got. Wanting to switch up his tactics, Natsu dove behind the body of the dead wyvern, using it as a meat shield against the attacks of the remaining wyverns. Taking advantage of the situation, Natsu began sending out Fire Dragons' Roars from behind cover, one of them clipping the adolescent in the left wing. The adolescent painfully glided back to the ground, roaring its anger at Natsu. Natsu grinned viciously, now down to only one fully mobile target. Natsu jumped onto the body of the dead wyvern, powering up a Fire Dragon's wing attack, before slamming it into the adolescent. Two down, one more wyvern to go.

The final wyvern recognized that its chances of successfully beating Natsu had dwindled. It roared in anger and hurt, as it grudgingly retreated north, leaving an angry Natsu behind.

"Running away from a fight?!" Natsu exclaimed, unsuccessfully chasing after it. "Stupid coward!"

After giving chase for about a minute, Natsu finally gave up. He went back to the two downed wyverns, and hit them again with some fire magic, just to make sure they were dead. Then, ripping out a tooth from each of them for proof of his deeds, he began to head back in the direction of balsam village.

**Back at Balsam Village**

Natsu smiled broadly as he approached the village. He took down two wyverns, and scared off a third, all without any help from Mirajane. He smiled even more broadly, thinking about the amount of food that he could buy with the reward money. With this new cash, plus his half of the money from the last job (when were they going to get that again?!), he would be eating quite well for the next couple of weeks.

Natsu went in the direction of the spa, a toothy grin still decorating his face. He couldn't wait to brag to Mira about what a good job he had just done; his walk sped up into a run at the thought.

He burst into the spa, greeting the receptionist as he passed, heading quickly into his room. Mira was relaxing on her bed, her face showing that she was still feeling the blissful effects of the hot water.

"Mira!" Natsu exclaimed, his chest puffing out proudly. "I just beat a whole nest of wyverns!"

Mira's eye twitched. "You just did _what?!_"

Natsu's confident grin faltered a bit. "I fought off a nest of wyverns?" He said, almost as a question.

Mira stood up from her bed, a frightening aura surrounding her. "So you're saying that you decided to go and fight a nest of angry wyverns, without telling _anyone_, BY YOURSELF?!"

"Yes?" Natsu said, shrinking down as she yelled.

Without any more words, Mira slapped Natsu across the face.

"You could have been hurt, or _worse!_ Or what if you turned into your demon form, without anyone around to help you control it!?" Tears were forming in the corner of Mira's eyes. "What were you thinking?!"

Natsu stood in place, completely shocked at Mira's reaction. He noticed the tears and immediately felt concern.

"Mira, is something wrong?"

Mira slapped him again, tears now flowing down the sides of her cheeks.

"Idiot!" she exclaimed, before stomping off into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

'_What was that all about?'_ Natsu wondered, sitting down on the side of his bed. '_She seemed so upset, but I can't figure out why. Maybe she was frustrated that she didn't get to come along…?'_

Meanwhile, on the other side of the bathroom door, Mira sat on the ground, nearly falling apart. Why did he have to be so reckless? Why didn't he at least tell her about it before running off?

And why was this affecting her so much? As she took ragged breaths, she pondered on that question. Why did Natsu's stupidity and recklessness frighten her so badly, in this situation? It hadn't before, so what had changed? As she thought about Natsu, the warm feeling from earlier returned.

Why was this affecting her so much? Deep down, she knew the answer-she did indeed have feelings for Natsu.

The awkward silence on either side of the bathroom door was interrupted by a deafening roar. Natsu immediately jumped up, recognizing the roar for what it was; a giant wyvern.

Mira burst out the bathroom door, her face still red from crying. "Was that what I think it was?"

Natsu grimaced. "Yeah. It's a wyvern."

Mira grabbed Natsu by the arm, and ran out of the room, past the lobby of the inn, and out onto the main road.

Down the road, ripping into another rooftop was the largest wyvern that either of them had ever seen. It was trailed by a smaller wyvern-the same size as one of the 'large' wyverns that Natsu had fought earlier.

"Didn't you say you killed all of the wyverns?" Mira asked incredulously.

"No...the last one I just kinda scared off." Natsu said sheepishly

Mira facepalmed. "They must have followed you back from the nest."

Natsu looked at the largest wyvern. "That one's at least twice the size of the other ones that I fought."

"The wyvern that survived must have tracked down an alpha." Mira said

"An alpha?" Natsu grinned broadly. "Well I'm all fired up now!" Natsu punched his fist into his other hand, as Mira massaged her temples, taking deep breaths.

Before engaging the wyverns, Natsu glanced over at Mira, a conflicted look suddenly on his face. "Mira, I know that you're still recovering; do you think that you could handle the smaller one?"

Mira bristled at the question. He was questioning whether the she-demon of Fairy Tail could handle a single wyvern?! Injured or not, her pride wouldn't allow her to sit this one out.

In answer to Natsu's question, Mirajane shifted into her satan soul form, readying herself for battle.

Natsu grinned broadly at her, turning back towards the wyverns.

"Fire Dragon's Roar" he spewed forth a large flame, aiming for the larger of the two wyverns. The wyvern deflected the blast into another rooftop, roaring in defiance.

As Mira charged a soul extinctor, aiming it for the smaller one, Natsu ran towards the now burning building, sucking up the flames. "Oh, yeah! Now I've got a fire in my belly!" He said, punching his fists together.

Mira released the soul extinctor, knocking the smaller wyvern out of the sky.

The larger wyvern roared, diving down from the rooftop that it was demolishing, swiping its talons at Mira.

Mira dodged, pain lancing through her legs as she did so.

"HEY!" Natsu yelled at the larger wyvern, throwing some flames at it. "Your fight's with me, ugly!"

The larger wyvern switched targets, swiping for Natsu this time. Natsu deftly dodged underneath, the talons missing by mere inches. Natsu followed up with a Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame, aiming it for the wing, but instead hitting the back side of the alpha, doing very little damage to the tough scales.

The smaller wyvern, now obviously injured, hobbled down the street towards Mirajane, determined to do some sort of damage. It roared in defiance as Mirajane charged up another soul extinctor, aiming for its head. The beam of dark energy struck true, as the beast screeched its last screech.

If the larger wyvern seemed angry before, now it was pissed. At a speed capable of only the fastest of fliers, the wyvern dove at Mirajane, pinning her underneath its massive talons. It reared its head back, right before going in for a bite-a bite that never connected. A massive ball of black flame hit the side of its head, knocking it off of Mirajane, and several yards down the street into another building. The wyvern, though now injured, was far from being defeated. It rose back onto its haunches, and took to the air, rage and defiance evident in its eyes. It swooped down at Natsu, who now stood in demon form, looking completely unamused.

Grabbing it by one of its talons, Natsu slammed the wyvern into the ground, breaking one of the wyvern's wings. Still unfinished with his target, Natsu lit his hands on fire, slowly, and sadistically burning the wings off of the alpha as it screeched in pain. He continued to burn the wyvern, piece by piece, starting with its talons, moving on to its legs, and finally onto its face.

Mira looked on in horror. Natsu was torturing the alpha.

"Natsu STOP!" Mira said, eyes full of concern. "Just end it already!"

Natsu glanced away from his plaything, to Mira, then back to his plaything. He sighed. With one final blow, he crushed the skull of the wyvern, instantly killing it.

Demon Natsu gave a sidelong glance to Mira, as if waiting for some sort of approval.

'_Is he really listening to me in that form?!'_ Mira stood still for a moment, unsure of what to do. After several tense moments, she gave Natsu a slight nod, which seemed to satisfy him. Slowly, he began his shift back into normal form, scales and horns retreating, as the accompanying magical pressure receded back into nothingness.

Mira approached Natsu, now shifted out of satan soul form. As the final distance closed between them, Mira slapped Natsu again on the face.

"Hey, why do you keep slapping…" Natsu was interrupted as Mira gave him a hug. "...me?"

Now totally confused as to what was going on, Natsu did the only thing that made sense; he awkwardly hugged her in return.

"Let's go back to the inn to get cleaned up." Mira said, her face buried in his chest.

Natsu slowly nodded in agreement, the sweet scent of Mira's shampoo momentarily distracting him.


End file.
